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Indian Terrain to enter women’s comfort wear segment

LiveMint 08-09-2017Sounak Mitra

New Delhi: Home-grown menswear brand Indian Terrain is planning to get into women’s comfort wear segment in the next 12 months, said Venky Rajgopal, managing director, Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd.

The BSE-listed company, which reported revenue of Rs403 crore in the year ended 31 March, has been selling western clothing for men since 2000 and started a separate range for boys a couple of years ago. It now plans to launch western wear for women.

The Chennai-based company sells through 300 large format stores, 150 exclusive brand outlets and about 600 other multi-brand outlets. The company will add about 25 brand outlets every year through franchisees.

“We have been growing at 20-25% every year which we hope to sustain,” said Rajgopal.

For women’s apparel, the company will have to establish or leverage a different retail channel. “We are working on that. Finalising the retail strategy and the styling will take us a few months,” added Rajgopal.

Entry into the women’s apparel segment is likely to help Indian Terrain grow faster. The branded women’s apparel market in India is growing at 20% compounded annual growth rate, while women’s apparel in general is growing at just 11%, according to a June report by financial services firm Avendus Capital, titled “Women’s Apparel: Landscape in India”. Women’s apparel is also projected to be the fastest growing in India’s apparel market, growing from Rs99,300 crore in 2015 to Rs2.77 trillion in 2025, added the Avendus report.

“We sell western clothes but we are from Chennai and have built the brand from Chennai. We are proud of that. Establishing an Indian brand with all its Indianness does not take away the aspirational aspects. Our competitors are multinational brands but our products move faster from retail shelves,” said Rajgopal.